Tony Raines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Born: | April 14, 1964 (age 42) | |
| Birthplace: |  LaPorte, Indiana |
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| Awards: | 1996 American Speed Association (ASA) Champion | |
| NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Statistics | ||
| 2006 NEXTEL Cup Position: | 35th | |
| Best Cup Position: | 33rd - 2003 (Nextel Cup) | |
| First Race: | 2002 MBNA Platinum 400 (Dover) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 0 | 3 | 0 |
| All stats current as of October 14, 2006. | ||
Floyd Anthony Raines (born April 14, 1964) is an American NASCAR driver. Born in LaPorte, Indiana, he drives the #96 Texas Instruments Chevy for Hall of Fame Racing.
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[edit] Before NASCAR
In 1988, Raines competed in five ASA races, and then returned for his rookie year in 1989. In 1990, Raines moved to NASCAR's All Pro Series, where he won Rookie of the Year and finished fourth in the final standings.
He returned to ASA in 1991 for a four-year stint as driver of a new team formed by Ernie Roselli. In 1995, he had moved to join crew chief Howie Lettow and Baker Motorsports. That in turn led to the 1996 championship and Tony's first major NASCAR Ride.
[edit] Craftsman Truck Series
Raines entered the 1997 season with a full-time ride, running for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year honors in the #19 Pennzoil Ford F-150 for Kurt Roehrig. Raines got off to a strong start, winning the seventh race of the season at I-70 Speedway. He ended the season with two top-5s and seven top-10s, as well as two outside-pole ppsitions. However, Tony's new team did not make two races and Tony finished 15th in points.
1998 turned out much better for Raines. He won three races (I-70, Louisville and Texas) and earned 6 other top-5s. His overall top-10 count stood at fifteen. With only two DNFs, Tony easily captured 5th in the final standings.
For 1999, Tony only made one start, due to his Busch Series commitments. Driving as a teammate to Bryan Reffner at the Milwaukee, Tony started 22nd and came home with a 19th place finish.
In 2004 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Tony made his most recent start at Atlanta driving for Green Light Racing. There Tony started 31st in the #08 1-800-4-A-Phone Chevy Silverado, but once again ran consistently home to a 17th.
[edit] Busch Series years
After his success in the Truck series, Raines signed to drive the #74 BACE Motorsports team in 1999. Qualifying for 31 of the 32 races, Raines was able to claim Rookie of the Year once again. He earned a 4th place at Dover Downs, a 9th at South Boston Speedway and a 10th at IRP. All this led to a 12th place run in his first career season in an unsponsored car.
In 2000, BACE scaled down to one car, leaving Raines behind the wheel of the #33 Bayer Chevy. In comparison to his rookie year, the season was a disappointment, as Raines only finished in the top-10 in one race. However, with the lackluster season Raines finished 15th in the final points.
Raines rebounded well in 2001, placing 6th in the final standings. He matched his career best finish of 2nd at Richmond. He also had a pair of thirds and a fourth. Overall, Tony had 13 top-10s. He also laid claim to his first pole at Nazareth Speedway, where he finished 6th.
Tony continued on in 2002, but his season once again fell off track. 6 DNFs hampered his effort of finding the top-10 in points. His best run came at Kentucky, where he finished 3rd. However, Tony still did have 11 top-10s in 2002, and Raines finished 12th in points.
In 2003 Raines went from the NASCAR Busch Series to the Winston Cup Series full-time. However, he still ran some races part-time in the #33 Outdoor Channel Chevy. In just his second outing of the year, Tony started 3rd at Bristol and finished a close 2nd to Kevin Harvick. In his other 11 starts, Tony finished 3rd at Richmond and had a triplet of 8th places. Yet once again, DNFs hampered the team as Raines did not finish half the races.
In 2004, Damon Lusk took over Raines' ride, and Raines was without a full-time ride. However, after Damon Lusk struggled in his first five races, BACE re-hired Raines. Raines would end up driving 15 races for BACE in 2004, his best coming again at Bristol with a solid 6th place finish. Tony also drove for James Finch at Milwaukee and Kevin Harvick Incorporated at Homestead-Miami, and Haas CNC Racing at Phoenix.
The run at Miami for KHI resulted in a part-time ride in 2005. Driving the #33 Yard Man Chevy, Raines competed in 23 races, posting 9 top-10s with a best finish of 4th at Nashville.
Tony will return to the Kevin Harvick Inc. number 33 car for a limited schedule in 2007, sharing the car with Harvick, Tony Stewart, Cale Gale, and Ron Fellows.
[edit] Nextel Cup Series Career
Raines made his first attempt in the Cup series in 1998 for Roehig in the #19, but failed to qualify for each attempt. Raines made his official debut in 2002 at Dover. Driving the #73 Staff America Chevy, Tony started 17th and finished 31st for BACE Motorsports. Tony then made six subsequent starts in 2002 driving BACE's #74 Chevy. His best run came at Atlanta, where Tony finished 29th.
With all the runs in 2002, Tony's team prepared for a full run in for Rookie of the Year 2003. After struggling through the first half of the year, BACE made the decision to switch to Hendrick engines. This led to five top-20 finishes in the last third of the year. Raines was especially good in the last four races with finishes of 18th at Atlanta, 19th at Phoenix, 6th at Rockingham, and 13th at Miami.
Despite the season ending momenteum, Tony's team went back to the Busch Series for 2004. Yet Tony did make some runs regardless. He drove again for James Finch at Dover, where the #09 Miccosukee Dodge finished 40th. He then drove for Bill Davis Racing at Indy, where a crash forced Tony to 30th. The last time Tony drove for was the #51 Chevy for Competitive Edge Motorsports. Running four races for the team, Tony finished 28th at Dover, 39th at Bristol, 40th at Atlanta, and 43rd at Charlotte.
Still racing in the Busch Series, Tony once again only made 6 NEXTEL Cup starts in 2005. After driving for Front Row Motorsports at Richmond (finishing 35th), Tony drove the rest of the races for the #37 Patron Dodge for R&J Racing. Tony finished 22nd at Talladega and 28th at Fontana. Also, at Michigan, Tony looked to be in position to win the race, leading the closing laps, before he ran out of gas and finished 31st.
In 2006, Raines drove in all but seven races in #96 DLP HDTV Chevy for Hall of Fame Racing. He finished 35th in points after sharing the ride with Terry Labonte. His best finish was 7th.
In 2007, he will return to the seat of the #96 car for the entire 2007 season.
